$50.7B bill passes 78 days after superstorm

Jan. 16, 2013

WASHINGTON — The House passed a $50.7 billion disaster relief bill for victims of superstorm Sandy on Tuesday, 78 days after the storm began pounding the Northeast.

Lawmakers voted 241-180 to approve the final bill, which includes $17 billion in emergency spending and another $33.7 billion in an amendment from Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J.

“People are hurting,” Frelinghuysen told lawmakers on the House floor. “The suffering and damage are real and their needs are great.”

The Senate is expected to consider the disaster aid next week, after President Barack Obama’s inauguration.

The Oct. 29 storm killed more than 100 people in 10 states — 41 in New York City alone — and wiped out entire communities in coastal New York and New Jersey.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said more than 22,000 homes were destroyed in his state, and people “desperately need help.”

The bill approved Tuesday includes $16 billion in Community Development Block Grant money critical for rebuilding, $10.9 billion for public transportation projects, and $5.4 billion for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects. It also includes $11.5 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief fund.

Other successful amendments to the bill would require FEMA to identify the recipients of all disaster relief grants, prohibit the federal government from using the aid to acquire more land and limit the financial aid for fisheries to states who suffered damage from Hurricane Sandy.

The House also passed an amendment from Rep. Jon Runyan, R-N.J., to limit fisheries aid to states damaged by Hurricane Sandy.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy issued a joint statement thanking House lawmakers for a “unified, bipartisan coalition to assist millions of their fellow Americans ... at their greatest time of need.”

But Tuesday’s debate was filled with complaints from Northeast lawmakers about delays in the disaster aid.

“Sandy devastated the Northeast and is one of the most costly natural disasters in our nation’s history,” said Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y. “It is imperative that we pass this package today.”

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Said Rep. Frank J. Pallone Jr., D-N.J.: “This relief package could not come soon enough. ... I am grateful that towns in my district that are strapped for funds will finally receive federal aid that will enable them to recover and rebuild from the historic storm.”

The House bill, combined with the $9.7 billion the House and Senate approved Jan. 4 to help storm victims pay flood insurance claims, brings the total amount of House-passed Sandy aid to $60.4 billion. That’s the same amount the Senate approved last year before the 112th Congress disbanded.

The aid legislation faced opposition from House Republicans who wanted to offset it by cutting federal spending elsewhere. But lawmakers rejected a proposal by Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C, to cut all federal discretionary programs by 1.6 percent.

Northeast lawmakers decried the proposal, saying Congress has never required disaster aid to be offset by spending cuts.

“To my colleagues ... who have decided that we need to change the rules of the game, shame on you,” Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J., said on the House floor. “Florida, good luck with no more hurricanes. California, congratulations, did you get rid of the San Andreas fault? The Mississippi is in a drought. You think you’re not going to have a flood again? Who are you going to come to when you have these things?”

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., who had angrily attacked his own party for failing to approve Sandy aid in the last Congress, sounded a less combative note on Tuesday.

“The time for recriminations is over,” said King, whose district is on Long Island. “Let’s stand together as Americans.”

Historically, congressional votes on federal disaster have not been partisan or even controversial. But Republican conservatives have balked at the size of the package.

The conservative Club for Growth had urged lawmakers to oppose the aid.

Speaking on the House floor in favor of the relief package, Rep. Rob Andrews, D-N.J., stressed that the legislation directs only “necessary funds related to the consequences of Sandy” with one exception – a portion of the funds will be devoted to prior disasters that have yet to be cleaned up.

“This is an occasion for the House of Representatives to rise above normal parochial politics and walk in the shoes of the people of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut,” he said.